Qualitative research interviews for health professions education: AMEE Guide No. 185

Research interviews are widely used in qualitative health professions education (HPE) research. However, producing rich interview data that address a researcher's aims is no easy feat. Based on methodological guidance from multiple disciplines and our own experience as qualitative researchers, educators, and mentors in HPE, this AMEE guide discusses the purpose of and approach to qualitative research interviews and provides comprehensive guidance for designing, preparing for, conducting, and documenting on qualitative research interviews. The guide includes practical tips that illustrate different purposes of and approaches to interviewing, drawing on and contrasting examples from published studies within in two methodologies - narrative inquiry and constructivist grounded theory.